Don Nelson Becomes NBA All-Time Winningest Coach
1,333
Golden State Warriors Don Nelson is now your NBA’s most winningest coach with a 116-107 win last night over the Minnesota Timberwolves, passing Lenny Wilkens.
Nelson can extend the number of wins since he has every intention on finishing out the one year left on his contract at $6 million remaining. Nelson has zero number of NBA titles he has as a coach, perhaps the glaring reason he has been passed over by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame three times.
In 31 seasons on the bench, Nelson is 1,333-1,061 in a career that has made stops in Milwaukee, Golden State (twice), New York and Dallas. He won five titles as a player, has been named coach of the year three times. Nelson got his first head coaching job with Milwaukee in 1976 when he replaced Larry Costello 19 games into the season and didn’t even have an assistant.
Through it all, Nelson has always done it his way. He’s clashed with players, management and ownership at various stops along the way and is the only coach with at least 1,000 career victories who has yet to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Nelson has built a reputation as a “mad scientist,” experimenting with lineups and offensive sets to cater to teams that were not always the biggest, strongest or most talented. In his first stint with Golden State in the late 1980s, he employed the famous “Run T-M-C” lineup of guards Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin to make the Warriors one of the more entertaining teams in the league. And now “Nelly Ball” has its own place in history.
This has been a long season for the Warriors (24-54), who have been ravaged by injuries and are a lock to finish with their fewest wins since 2001-02. The Warriors played their sixth straight game without Monta Ellis (flu) and also were again without Anthony Randolph (ankle) and Kelenna Azubuike (knee) Andris Biedrins (sports hernia) and Brandan Wright (shoulder) have missed big chunks of time this season too. The Warriors have called up five players from the Development League this season, which is tied with the 2007-08 Spurs for the most in one season.
Rookie Stephen Curry last night scored 27 points and dished out 14 assists and finished just two rebounds and three steals from a quadruple-double while the other hero in helping Nelson achieve the honor was last night was Anthony Tolliver. He led Golden State with a career-high 34 points and has been averaging 14.8 points and 7.9 rebounds since being signed back in January.
- NBA ALL-TIME COACHING VICTORIES
- Don Nelson 1,333
- Lenny Wilkens 1,332
- Pat Riley 1,210
- Jerry Sloan 1,188
- Phil Jackson 1,095
Milwaukee Bucks Joe Alexander Wants To Be Traded
Fraud
Could a new city and team be what the former 2008 No. 8 overall draft pick Joe Alexander needs to jump start his career or could the former West Virginia standout be a player that could never play on highest level in the first place? I’m going with the latter and I consider myself an Alexander fan.
The Milwaukee Bucks decided two weeks ago not to pick up his third year option on his rookie contract, and that has lead Alexander to say he wants to be traded. Alexander’s 2010-11 option for $2.76 million was not picked up by the Nov. 2 deadline, making him an unrestricted free agent next summer.
It has lead Alexander to say if they don’t want him than they should trade him. But in fairness to the Bucks decision Alexander is hardly healthy and when so he isn’t making himself into a force during practice that he should command playing time.
The Bucks and I had high hopes for the 6-foot-8 Alexander when they selected him and they did so ahead of players such , selecting him ahead of players such as Brook Lopez, Jason Thompson, Anthony Randolph, and JaVale McGee. Instead, Alexander became the highest first-round pick ever to have his rookie contract option declined after his first season.
Such high demands for a player that hasn’t given anything back.
Monta Ellis To Be The Next Golden State Warrior To Go?
Stay or Go?
Is Monta Ellis the next Golden State Warrior to go? This franchise might have easily moved aheaad of other laughing stocks in the league like the Los Angeles Clippers or the New York Knicks in their dysfunction.
The Warriors have gone through numerous coaches since Don Nelson last stint with the team that lasted from 1988-95 , no on has matched any length in tenure expect for Nelsons second go around which is now entering it’s fourth year. List goes from Bob Lanier, Rick Adelman, P.J. Carlesimo, Garry St. Jean, Dave Cowens, Brian Winters, Eric Musselman, Mike Montgomery in between that time.
The players also seem be in a revolving door situation as well now that Stephen Jackson is the latest marquee franchcise player to leave. Prior to Jackson’s demands to leave the Bay it was Al Harrington and now Raja Bell must think its so bad that is electing to have season ending surgery on his wrist, surgery he had put off in Charlotte, rather than play with the Warriors. Then there is the whole Baron Davis contract fiasco that lead him eventually to the Clippers.
Ellis could be the latest to leave as multiple NBA sources have confirmed that his agent is scheduled to meet with team management Thursday to decide his future. Several sources indicate they are seeking the approval of the possibility of the Warrriors giving Ellis and his agent permission to talk to other teams to quicken the pace of trade talks.
Two sources say that Nelson embarrassed Ellis when Ellis tried to step into a leadership role in the aftermath of the 28-point home loss to the Clippers on Nov. 6. The scene was in post-game locker room and Ellis, as a co-captain, began loudly addressing to his teammates, telling them that this performance could not be tolerated. But then Nelson told Ellis to be quiet. Then came a public verbal altercation between the two after a practice in New York last week.
In front of reporters, Ellis accused Nelson of blaming him for everything. When Nelson denied it and then walked away, waving his hands, Ellis said:
“See, that’s why I won’t do it. I just won’t do it.”
Ellis has not been perfect to say the least as when he lied to his employers about an injury in a low-speed moped accident that limited him only to 25 games and then vocalizing he couldn’t play with Stephen Curry. Ellis has four years and $44M owed to him after this season, but should be less difficult to trade than either Jackson or Harrington was.
If Ellis leaves who’s next Anthony Randolph, Andris Biedrins?
